[NASL: Week 9] The first-place New York Cosmos host the Tampa Bay Rowdies, unbeaten in their last 10 games, in a clash of the NASL's top two teams on Sunday night
at Hofstra University.

The Cosmos are unbeaten on home turf with three wins and a draw and appear to have found a goal scorer in Venezuelan Diomar
Diaz, who scored twice last weekend and has three goals on the campaign. The Rowdies are led by Georgi Hristov, whose 11 goals are second in the NASL
behind Hans Denissen (San Antonio) and Brian Shriver (Carolina). The Bulgarian also has seven assists. Luke
Mulholland has six and seven assists for Tampa Bay.

"I've said this many times, but every week is another final for us," said Cosmos coach Giovanni
Savarese. "And this weekend is no different. Tampa has acquired some new players since we played them and they're playing well. This is an important game and going to be another good challenge
for us."

Three teams are tied for third place, four points behind the Cosmos. They include Carolina and Ft. Lauderdale, which meet Saturday night. The RailHawks hope to welcome back
Shriver from injury when they host the Strikers at WakeMed Soccer Park.